


We're a Team

by orphan_account



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Backstory, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Implied/Referenced Torture, Season 3 aftermath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-07 19:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7727518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike's made more than his fair share of mistakes in his life, but he's always done right by his son....or so he thinks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We're a Team

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spiderfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiderfire/gifts).



> betaed by trascendenza

It had been ages since anyone but the pizza delivery man knocked on Mike’s door, let alone a friend. So it followed that he was absolutely flabbergasted to find Skye standing on his doorstep at two in the morning. At least, it looked like Skye. It took a minute for his augmented eye to identity the woman with dyed black hair and a leather jacket as his former kidnapping victim.

“Mike,” she gasped, clearly tired and out of breath. “I’m in trouble. I need somewhere to crash tonight.”

He wasn’t sure what to make of that, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“And you thought hanging out with a cyborg would be the best way to hide?”

She rolled her eyes at him.

“Come on, Mike, it’s just for tonight. I can’t stay in one place for long. Shield is hot on my trail.”

“Shield? Why would Coulson-”

“Coulson’s not in charge anymore, Mike. He’s not even close to the top. Someone else took over...and they’re hunting my kind and any other specials they can find.”

That would explain the orders he got from Coulson several months ago, to “turn off his tracker and lay low until further notice.”

“Sure, Skye, help yourself.” Mike stepped aside and motioned her into his tiny apartment.

She nodded gratefully.

“By the way,” she said, as she plopped down on the couch, “my name’s not Skye anymore, it’s Daisy.”

Her eyes wandered in the direction of the refrigerator, decorated with pictures of his son.

“How’s Ace doing? I noticed you’re only living three blocks away from him. I’m glad to see you two have reconnected.”

Mike shook his head.

“I haven’t seen my son since I was captured by Hydra.”

…

Mike grew up in Brooklyn, the youngest child of a single mother. His father took off right before he was born, leaving his mother with three hungry mouths to feed. She ended up working double shifts at the hospital to keep the family going.

Life was rough. They lived in a dangerous neighborhood where violence was a way of life. Despite his warnings to stay home at night and keep out of trouble, Mike still managed to get in a few scrapes.

“Sweet Jesus! Michael Peterson, what have you got yourself into now?” his mother said when he limped into the house, battered and bruised. He was only six days away from his twelfth birthday.

“But, Ma, I had to! Jay and those older boys I was telling you about were trying to mug this old lady. I had to do something.”

His mother pulled Mike close and looked into his eyes. (She could be as scary as hell when she wanted to.)

“Listen to me, Mike Peterson, and listen well. Nothing good comes from playing the hero. You’ll die out there before you finish high school if you keep on like this and I’ll be damned if I lose my child to some lowlife thug. Do you hear me, boy?”

She shook him for good measure, her eyes filled with tears.

Mike nodded his head reluctantly.

“You’re a smart boy, Mike, and I just know you’re going to make something of yourself someday. Just promise me you’ll stay put.”

Mike still got beat up from time to time, but it was the last time he instigated a fight. He graduated from high school at the top of his class with a full scholarship to the local community college. Sadly, his mom never got to see his proudest moment. She died of cancer two weeks into his junior year, leaving his sister Mindy to look after him.

…

“I told you Skye,...I mean Daisy, I don’t want my son to see the monster I’ve become.”

Daisy stared at him and shook his head.

“Trust me, Mike, I’ve known real monsters and you’re nothing like them. You don’t have anything to be ashamed of. Ace needs to see his father.”

…

Mike had been dating Leticia on and off for a couple years when she came to him with the news.

“Are you sure?” he asked, still trying to wrap his head around what she was telling him.

“Five different pregnancy tests don’t lie, Mike.”

He didn’t want the kid, but Mike sure as hell wasn’t going to follow in his own father’s footsteps. Instead he did the honorable thing, dropped out of school, bought a cheap wedding ring, and found a job to support his new family.

…

“So what happened to you?” he finally asked, placing a plate of food in front of Daisy.

It was impossible not to notice the dark, haunted look in her eyes.

“Let’s just say I met the Inhuman god,” she said in between mouthfuls, “and we didn’t see eye to eye on things.”

By the time they finished dinner she had told him the whole story: meeting her parents, her abduction by an ancient Inhuman in Grant Ward’s body, Lincoln’s death, and her new career as a vigilante.

“I know right, what a pair we make? Now we’ve both been brainwashed.”

Mike sadly shook his head.

“I was never brainwashed, Daisy. I had a choice, you didn’t.”

…

It was love at first sight. After twenty-seven hours of labor, his wife gave birth to their little boy.

“Don’t you want to hold him, Ticia?” Mike asked after staring into the face of his newborn son for several minutes.

His wife shook her head and smiled sleepily.

“Nah, you and Mike Jr. seem to have things all sorted out. Mama’s gonna take a nap.”

“Na-uh. Just look at this kid, he’s perfect from head to toe. He’s not Michael Peterson II, he’s an ace and that’s what we’re going to call him.”

All his worries and regrets disappeared. From that moment on, Mike Peterson went to work with a smile on his face and spent every moment he could with his son. Watching his son grow, walking Ace to school every morning...it was better than a college education a hundred times over.

Then, a heavy canister fell on top of Mike at the factory and he found himself without a broken back and no job. Leticia left him, leaving Mike and Ace by themselves. The two of them moved in with his sister, Mindy. Mike tried to stay optimistic for Ace’s sake, but no one seemed interested in hiring a black man with only one year of community college under his belt.

And just when he had lost all hope and given in to despair, a girl in a flower dress appeared and changed his life forever.

….

“He just started fourth grade. Mindy tells me he’s at the top of his class. I go down to the school every now and then, you know I can see from several yards away with this cybernetic eye. I can’t believe how big he’s gotten.”

Daisy carefully set down her plate on the kitchen table.

“Mike, there’s something I have to tell you. I didn’t just come here looking for shelter. Shield’s new director is not going to stop with the Inhumans. Once he has us rounded up, he’ll move on to anyone else with special abilities. You need to grab Ace and get out of here.”

He stared at Daisy in disbelief.

“Trust me Daisy, Ace is safer without me.”

Daisy leaned forward and took Mike’s hand in hers.

“No he’s not. I know how this man’s mind works. As long as Ace is living out in the open, he can be snatched and used as leverage against you. There’s a place I’ve found that’s outside the range of Shield sensors. It’s where the Inhumans used to live before they founded Afterlife. Take your son and go.”

…

At first, Hydra gave him simple tasks to do. Break into a building, blow this up, knock this guy unconscious. He rebelled the first time they ordered him to kill.

“Go ahead and do it,” he managed to choke out between spasms of pain. “Blow me to pieces. My son thinks I’m a hero and I’m not going to let him down again.”

A few days later, they aired a video of Ace locked up in a cell and Mike felt he had no choice.

...

“Mike Peterson, you have some nerve showing your face around here.”

Mindy glared at him, hands on her hip.

Mike was sweating profusely. He hadn’t been this scared since Hydra had captured him.

“Mindy, something’s come up, something important. I need to see Ace.”

“Well, it’s about damn time. All these months I’ve been telling you your son needs his father, that he doesn’t care what you look like, and you just decided to show up out of the blue?”

They were interrupted by the sound of footsteps running down the stairs.

“Aunt Mindy, who’s at the door? It sounds an awful lot like-”

Ace stared at his father with wide eyes.

“Hey, buddy,” Mike croaked, trying not to cry, “how’s it going?”

To his surprise, Ace ran towards Mike and wrapped his arms around.

“Dad, I knew you would come back.”

Mike picked Ace up and held him close.

“Of course I did. We’re a team.”

…

It ended the same way it began, with a burning building and a mysterious figure rushing in to save the day.

“Who is that, Dad? Is that an Avenger?”

Mike leaned down and smiled at his son.

“No, Ace, that’s my friend Quake. She’s going to take you and Aunt Mindy to a place far away from here. Somewhere safe.”

Ace stared up at him, looking like he was about to cry.

“Are you going to leave again, Dad?”

“No, never again, Ace. I promise.”

They walked off together hand in hand, together again at last.


End file.
